Bhikshuni Sukka: The Way Back Home

It wasn’t so long ago that all the men in town knew my name.

Now that I wear a shaved head and double robe, they don’t pay any attention.

They just lie around drinking wine all day.

Why tie yourself to a bottle?

When the next watering hole is far ahead and the last watering hole is far behind, I could teach you how to drink what falls from the sky.

Look at me. Even on the darkest night, I could show you where to find enough light to make your way back home.

This verse is adapted by Matty Weingast from the Therigatha, a Buddhist text consisting of a collection of 73 short poems of women who were senior nuns. The poems date from a three hundred year period, starting in the late 6th century BCE. It is the companion text to the Theragatha, verses attributed to senior monks. It is the earliest known collection of women’s literature composed in India.

Source: Great Middle Way